Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Cuts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Key Points

• Freestone Capital Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 21.9%, owning 63,751 shares valued at approximately $9.96 million after selling 17,845 shares in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors increased their holdings in Alphabet, with 17 Capital Partners LLC growing theirs by 149.1% during the same period.
• Alphabet recently announced a $0.21 quarterly dividend, set to be paid on September 15, with an annual dividend yield of 0.4%.

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 63,751 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 17,845 shares during the quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. 17 Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 149.1% in the first quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 11,562 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 6,921 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 43,014 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172 shares during the period. Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC now owns 16,095 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 16,043 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,506,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 53.9% during the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 11,238 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,756,000 after buying an additional 3,938 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Pivotal Research increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $204.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company's 50 day moving average is $185.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.